Moving to Santa Rosa, CA
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April 2012
Re: Moving from NYC with 13yo - need affordable and safe
Have you considered Santa Rosa? Lots of food and beverage
jobs around here since it's the Sonoma wine country and you
can find decent housing in your price range especially in
one of the historic neighborhoods near downtown. School
quality varies so you should definitely examine that closely
but there are some excellent public charter schools in
addition to neighborhood schools. Santa Rosa's population
is greater than 160K so while it's certainly much smaller
than many cities, it's not a teeny tiny town either. Santa
Rosan
Unplugging from the Bay Area - to Santa Rosa?
Has anyone moved to Santa Rosa - from the Bay Area - and
really enjoying it? Certainly, there are trade-offs.
Thanks. unplugging
Moved from Berkeley to Santa Rosa in about 1987 because I
wanted to get out, too. I also have an uncle who moved from
Stockton to Santa Rosa in about 1980 because they also
wanted to get out. For me, Santa Rosa was a spectacular
change--I always remember feeling the pressure lift every
time I crossed the Richmond Bridge heading north. Santa Rosa
Junior College was a big pull for me as well. Great school
and then went on to Sonoma State U. I stayed in Sonoma
County until about 1997 when job pulled me back into the Bay
Area. At that time, Santa Rosa was great--not too sure about
now, though. I think it's changed a lot, but it's far enough
removed from the Bay Area that some of the nuances of rural
must exist. Take a drive up there and get a room for the
weekend and drive around. Go to the colleges, talk to
locals, hang out at either of the malls, eat at some
restaurants . . . Been There, Done That
I can't answer all of your question, but may be able to give
you some perspective. I grew up in Santa Rosa, moved to
Berkeley for college and then have moved to four very
different places. In my final two moves we considered
moving back to the East Bay, but opted for other places.
The East Bay has a great view of San Francisco, but beyond
that, there was so much else that we were looking for and
the East Bay just couldn't provide it. So, I guess to
answer the second part of your question - yes, it is
possible to live outside the East Bay and like it.
Whether you will like it or not is a different story. There
are trade-offs. But, from my point of view now (married
with two kids), we have gained far more than we have lost.
If I were heading to Sonoma County now, I would head to West
Sonoma County. If you have kids, the Oak Grove Elementary
School/Willowside Charter Schools are unique, thoughtful
learning environments (safe, clean and free, too which is
always a bonus). Your 'city' would be Sebastopol. You'd be
living on the edge of the Russian River Valley filled with
creative types who dropped out of the Bay Area in the 60s
and haven't really left. West Sonoma County is filled with
'hippy red-necks' (yes, it is possible to be the same thing
in the same person...very crunchy left wingers who voted for
Obama but drive pick-ups and shoot rabbits for dinner). Hm,
maybe a better way to describe it would be 'broad minded
with feet firmly placed on the ground.' West County is also
filled with great food and wine. -anon
Job offer in Santa Rosa
Feb 2004
My husband has been offered a job in Santa Rosa and we are
seriously considering moving up there. I have done some internet
research on home prices/schools and it does seem that there are
some good public schools available (particularly in the Rincon
Valley school district), but I would love to hear from anyone on
this network that has personal experience living in this area.
We are generally interested in knowing about quality of life and
community issues. I am hoping that by moving to an area where
more people send their children to the local public school we
would have more of a sense of community than we currently have
living in Richmond (and going to private school out of our
immediate area).
If anyone is either from Santa Rosa or has lived there, I would
love to hear from you.
Susan
I grew up in Santa Rosa and my mother, sister and nephew still
live there. I would move back to SR in a second, but becuase of
work, we live here. I consider SR to be an ideal community:
great schools, great neighborhoods, progressively liberal
people, great restaurants, fantastic weather, nice, walkable
downtown, etc., etc. Most people send their kids to public
schools. Housing prices are high but you get more for your
money than in Oakland/Berkeley. Most public schools are very
good. A few are not so good. I attended rincon valley schools
and Santa Rosa high and my nephew attends elementary school in
rincon valley. My mom has been teaching in the Santa Rosa
public schools forever. If you would like to talk more about
life in SR, feel free to email me. I love
to talk about my favorite place to live and (fingers crossed),
hopefully my family will live there again someday soon.
SR native
Santa Rosa is a great place to grow up and a great place to go
to public school (though, I am a bit biased as my Father was
superintendent of schools in Santa Rosa while I was at Berkeley
and before that Superintendent of the West County Schools). I
graduated from the West County Schools (Oak Grove, Willowside
and El Molino) and managed to get into Berekely. Depending on
where your husband will be working, you may wish to consider
one of the surrounding communities -- Sebastopol (which will
put you into the West County Schools) or Healdsburg or Glen
Ellen. All have 'small town appeal,' but thanks to the wine
industry, you will find that all are reasonably sophisticated.
All are easy commutes to Santa Rosa.
The down side of Santa Rosa is all of the suburban sprawl. I
am not a big fan of track homes, which sadly cover much of the
valley floor. The upside is that you are living in the middle
of/short drive to everything (wineries, great food, redwoods,
the ocean, the Russian River, etc)
Enjoy!
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